Imprints in Stone [AU]

[Carver Amell]

"Who?" he snaps. 

[Andy za'Frane]

"That's not up to me, but your opinion will be taken into account," Andy assures them. 

[Bethany]

"What about you?" Bethany suggests. At least we know him already, and his wife was really nice.

[Andy za'Frane]

"I doubt they'll bother asking my opinion," Andy says with a shake of his head. "Lt. Vallen and Sgt. Delman are taking the lead on this entire... thing, so it'll probably be one of them that decides it after talking it over with you and your mother."

[Carver Amell]

Carver's gaze hardens. "This Captain Vallen. What's she like?" 

[Andy za'Frane]

"Lieutenant Vallen," Andy corrects Carver. "She... she's driven. Not very personable, but probably the best guard in Coalside. She..." Not really comfortable about gossiping but they need to know about her, not just her service record, I think.

"She doesn't really talk much to... well, anyone, as far as I can tell, about personal stuff, but rumor has it her fiance was killed repelling a bandit attack during a rotation at a small village. They were both guard. After that... she's dedicated herself to Vangal, Coalside, and the guard, in that order, pretty much exclusively. Can't say it's not done well for her, professionally at least- even for a paladin, her rise through the ranks has been impressive. Even more so given her very public stance of anti-corruption." Andy shakes his head a little. "Most figure she'll have that Captain rank you mentioned in the next decade, before she's thirty-five- which is nearly unheard of, for a non-noble woman." Nyra's fairly good about gender equality, but the guard is one of the worst professions in that regards.

[Carver Amell]

"Vangal..." he says slowly. "..I can't promise anything. But we'll talk to her about Varric, at least. Help him out with his... problems."

[Bethany]

I had meant, 'what about you being our minder' but... Bethany shrugs a little. "Sounds like we need to talk to this Lt. Vallen if we want to settle anything so..." She glances at Carver, planning on taking the first chance she gets to discuss her idea about minders with her twin.

[Carver Amell]

Carver nods. "Exactly. So we talk to Vallen, and then we see where things go from there." Maybe this Vallen can be our minder. That wouldn't be so bad.

[Tethras Clan]

Forty minutes later, Carver finds himself sitting in a small conference room. Alone. This was very much against his wishes, but Sgt. Delman had insisted that they both had to be questioned separately in order to ensure they weren't coordinating stories or the like. As compromise, Bethany is in the next room with Andy and the door is left unlocked but closed. A few minutes of waiting later and the external door opens to admit the most imposing woman Carver's ever seen. 

Nearly six and a half feet tall and likely weighting nearly as much as Carver and Bethany combined, the full-plated wearing woman strides into the room with absolute confidence. She has deep, rich red hair, striking features that seem almost masculine and a focused frown on her lips. And, in addition to the guard tabard, her armour is etched with Vangal and Astea's symbols- and not that he can see it just yet, but the shield on her back has not just Vangal's symbol, but a simplified depiction of his favored form, a massive dragon.

"Carver Firethorn Hawke?" she asks crisply, knowing the answer but getting it confirmed as per procedure anyway.

[Carver Amell]

"You really are a Vangalite," he breathes, in wonder. "A-- a paladin?" he asks, to confirm. "A real honest-to-Vangal paladin?"

[Tethras Clan]

Aveline's frown starts to deepen at the evasion but the look in his eyes stops her. She hesitates a moment, then nods. Focusing inward, she calls up the well of devotion and power Vangal graces her with and holds it just before it pours out of her. It's subtle, but the nearly channeled energies impart a faint steely glow to her eyes, hands and the shield on her back.

"I've followed the Everlasting Shield since I was old enough to realize He existed, but I swore oaths when I was twenty," she confirms soberly. "Two years of dedicated training under a mentor, followed by three and ongoing of self-study and what time I can spend at the temple seeking assistance. It's a hard, demanding path but I would neither seek or allow myself another."

[Carver Amell]

Carver nods, swallowing. "Yes. That. I want that. I need-- There's someone I have to protect. They tell me Vangal can, can give me the power to do it."

[Tethras Clan]

The glow fades away, the effort needed to do that trick too much to maintain for very long. "You're a poor age for that choice- too old for the work and restrictions to come natural, to simply be how life is, but too young to know yourself well enough to see it done regardless. Still." Her frown lessens, then almost but not quite reverses to a smile. "There are never enough that are willing to stand in front of the innocent." And now the frown is back. 

"But Vangal does not give power, not to anyone. You can earn the right to it, but it's not just about training and need. You have to prove yourself, not to us, or even yourself, but to Vangal, that you won't misuse that power. That you won't chain it with selfishness, squander it for pride or cheapen it for glory."

[Carver Amell]

"I know," he says, nodding. "I'm ready.  Anything you ask, I'll prove myself." Anything, for Bethany.